Blue Streaks lose with time expired

OREGON — In the final seconds, the football gods were on Oregon Clay's side, and Sandusky was left lying on the turf in disbelief. The final play of regulation could only be described as quarterback Mason Heintschel throwing up a prayer. It was answered when Hudson Byers brought down a game-tying touchdown. And then the extra point kick, which appeared to be wide left, was ruled good. Heartbreak for the Blue Streaks. "That's why our kids are so banged up about it," Sandusky coach Lucas Poggiali said. "And I get it. They gave their heart and soul. Golly, they played so freaking hard." The last score, with time expired, made it 33-32 in favor of Oregon Clay. The Blue Streaks (0-1) had trailed on four separate occasions, responded to all of them, and then ran out of seconds for one final response. After the game, Poggiali's message to his team was simple: "You have a chance to stay together." "Our kids are gonna be so beat up about this game, so distraught, and that's natural to have happen," Poggiali said. There were stretches where it looked like Oregon Clay would be tough to stop. The Eagles scored the first touchdown on a 4-yard pass from star junior Mason Heintschel to Aaron Miller. The highlight of that drive: Heintschel fumbling into mid-air on a scramble, grabbing it himself behind the line, then finding Hudson Byers 39 yards down the field. Heintschel's magic continued on Clay's second touchdown — he escaped pressure with a spin out to his throwing side, then delivered a dot to Troy Hazuda for a 42-yard score. "Guys that can create out of the pocket have so much influence on the defense, to get guys to move just a little bit," Poggiali said. "He's a tough kid. He's got a bright future. He played well." But the Blue Streaks had the answers and then some. Wilfredo Alejo had an early interception to prevent a drive into the red zone. After the first score, Sandusky found its running game. Jamarion Alexander had a 16-yard run to the 12, then 10 more to the 2. He polished off his sequence with a 2-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game 6-6. The most emphatic response came after Clay went up 12-6. Poggiali yelled, "DJ, DJ," after the kickoff. That meant Dale Johnson. The sophomore, Sandusky's backup quarterback, took the field in the shotgun. He rolled to his right, and after the play broke down, he found Alexander hanging out in space about 15 yards down the field. Alexander turned it up and wasn't stopped on what ended up as an 82-yard passing score from Johnson to Alexander. Will Thomas' extra point made it 13-12. "Dale did a good job of creating and keeping his eyes down field," Poggiali said. The Blue Streaks kept that momentum when Bryson Fleming fell on a fumble at the 14-yard line a few plays later. The ensuing short drive got trickier with a third down false start that made it goal-to-go from the 7. But Jason Henlon found a sliding Amir Aaron at the 1-yard line, and Sandusky went quick. The Blue Streaks got to the line and Henlon slid under center. The junior took the snap, tried to sneak, got stifled and instead spun toward the left side of the field, which was pretty much wide open for a scamper to the pylon. Thomas made a longer extra point after a false start to go up 20-12 with 4:16 until half. "Our kids fight and claw until the very end," Poggiali said. Heintschel made another ridiculous play to find Byers on a fourth-and-1 that was supposed to be a run until it wasn't. But an Aaron pass breakup on third down and a sack by Braden Sartor and Dominik Richardson on fourth down got the ball back, and it went to half with Sandusky up 20-12. Clay scored the first two touchdowns of the second half, the first on a fourth-down reverse run, the second on a receiving touchdown from Jake Titgemeyer with seven seconds left in the third quarter. Sandusky punted on the ensuing drive, but the Blue Streaks got a stop. They took over at their own 29 with 8:35 left. Four minutes later, Henlon turned a broken play into a 13-yard rushing TD to tie it up with the PAT no good. "Jason, busted play, scores a touchdown, very competitive," Poggiali said. Sandusky got what looked like it might be the most crucial stop next, forcing a punt. Amir Aaron fielded the punt off two hops, took it up the right sideline and went 75 yards to the house. Pandemonium on the Sandusky sideline and a 32-26 lead. "Amir showed how dynamic he is on both sides of the ball," Poggiali said. "He's a special player." The Blue Streaks couldn't convert a two-point conversion, setting up the final scene. Clay converted a fourth down inside a minute. With all three timeouts remaining, the Eagles used short gains to get to the 7-yard line with five seconds left. Heintschel was surrounded by three defenders. Two hung on his shoulders. And he lofted a pass that Poggiali described as "like a free throw" to the imposing Byers, who came down with one final remarkable catch. A maybe, maybe not extra point later, and an impressive opening win had slipped away in the most painful fashion for Sandusky. "It helps that we've got the biggest game of the year next week," Poggiali said of the upcoming rivalry game with Fremont Ross. "We'll rely on our seniors and our leaders. Our kids invest so much, and the way that it happened was so deflating, a backbreaker. We have to stay together, and I know that they will." Sandusky 0 20 0 12 — 32Clay 6 6 14 7 — 33 C — Aaron Miller 4 pass from Heintschel (2 try failed) S — Alexander 2 run (kick no good) C — Hazuda 42 pass from Heintschel (2 try failed) S — Alexander 82 pass from Johnson (Thomas kick) S — Henlon 1 run (Thomas kick) C — Hazuda 11 run (2 try failed) C — Titgemeyer 7 pass from Heintschel (Heintschel run) S — Henlon 13 run (kick no good) S — Aaron 75 punt return (2 try failed) C — Byers 7 from Heintschel (Veler kick)